Stalled Florida Projects Draw Interest from Conservation Groups

Stalled Florida Projects Draw Interest from Conservation
Groups

Business bankruptcies and the stone-cold homebuilding market
in Florida, as elsewhere, have turned hundreds of once-busy
developments into virtual ghost towns. The potential for crime,
blight, and other bad consequences has been a concern for
public officials nationwide. But for groups who advocate
preservation of open space, there's an up side. In one
community after another, non-profit groups have stepped in to
turn stalled or failed developments into public lands, devoting
the properties to community use as public parks, or simply as
natural conservation land.
In some cases, the result can be a win-win solution that
benefits developers and builders as well as open-space
advocates. That's because development deals that include
set-asides for publicly accessible open space can offer tax
benefits to the developer — and also enhance the value
of the portions of the property that remain available to build
on. One South Florida example: an aging apartment complex on an
oceanfront parcel in Tampa, Florida, known as
"
Georgetown."
Fronting on the Old Tampa Bay, surrounded by old established
neighborhoods, and not far from MacDill Air Force Base, the
Georgetown parcel is prime real estate. Certainly, that's what
Fort Lauderdale-based developers The Motta Group thought when
they paid $125 million for the 153-acre parcel in April of
2005. And had 2005's red-hot market continued for a few more
years, that investment might have paid off in spades. But
things didn't turn out that way — by September of
2008, lenders were foreclosing on the whole project, including
the now-empty 1970's-built apartment complex on the landward
side of the property.
In spring of 2009, reported the Los Angeles Times
(“
Empty Florida homes may return to nature,” by
Richard Fausset), the property attracted the attention of Greg
Chelius, an executive with the Florida chapter of a national
non-profit called the
Trust
for Public Lands. Chelius saw a golden opportunity to apply
his group's strategy: Acting as an intermediary that acquires
eligible parcels and executes the public-private land deals
necessary to turn the properties into public conservation
lands.
This fall, Bank of America, which now holds the property,
found a buyer: the DeBartolo Group. The St. Petersburg Times
has the story
("
DeBartolo Group completes purchase of Georgetown
Apartments," by Janet Zink). Demolition of the abandoned
apartments on the site began in November, the Tampa Business
Journal reported
("
DeBartolo investment group enlists Cross to tear down
Georgetown"). By January, the Tampa Tribune reported,
demolition was in full swing
("
Demolition creates lots of debris," by George Wilkens).
As part of the sale, the Trust for Public Land contracted
with DeBartolo to purchase the oceanfront part of the property
and convey it to Hillsborough County's Environmental Lands
Acquisition and Protection Program (ELAPP). But details of that
complex transaction are yet to be worked out. Meanwhile,
DeBartolo executives say they're in no hurry to develop their
half of the parcel. But it's likely that the Motta Group's
original concept — a dense-packed luxury development
of 1,249 condos, townhouses, and single-family homes —
will be scaled back in favor of a plan involving fewer (but
potentially more upscale) units.